Evil Ham and Egg Strata

My sister and her brand new husband came to our place for dinner a few nights ago. In an attempt to be incredibly impressive we whipped up this savory little dish so that they’d believe that they’d been magically spirited away to a romantic Italian bed and breakfast, or a local Cracker Barrel or something. In fact, we made two of them–believing, naively, that we’d eat the second one the next morning.

Pretty sure we had Corn Chex for breakfast, cause I’m telling you–there was nothing left of this lovely thing. Want everyone in your world to think you’re a culinary genius? Read on my friends…

Ham and Egg Strata

Ingredients:

1/2 cup smoked ham–sliced, or diced

2-3 slices of Sour Dough Bread

6 eggs

1/4 cup Evaporated Milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Lightly grease an oblong casserole dish. Butter the bread and trim off crusts. Place bread, butter side down into casserole dish. Some people like to tear the bread into bite sized pieces–but I like order, so do it my way.

Whirl eggs, salt, pepper and evaporated milk in blender for about 1 minute–or until mixed completely. Pour evenly over bread.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes to get all soaky.

Sprinkle ham over the top.

Now you have a choice to make. You can either cover with foil and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight or not.

~If you choose to not…then proceed to the next step. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Your dish will be light and fluffy and incredible.

~If you choose the overnight option, be sure to take the dish out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking to allow it to warm up. Your dish will be more dense and moist and also fabulous. Don’t skip the warm up step or your dish will cook unevenly and you won’t be able to tell anyone that you got the recipe from me because it will be cooked in some places and gooey in others. Not cool. Heed this warning my friends.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until it looks slightly golden on top.

Let it rest for about 5-10 minutes then serve warm with something elegant like…oh, what the heck–Tatertots work great.

Email me when your making this. I’ll be right over to help you pick up all the money and roses and stuff that your family will be tossing your way…

Wow this might even be something I can talk my hubby into making for me!! hmmmm then again, maybe not….guess I’ll make it for us. Thanks for sharing….I think I’ll save my onion tater tots for when I make this. 🙂

This looks wonderful! i have a french toast strata that I make often and we love. This is similar, but not as sweet and I think the kids would love it. we will have to try it this weekend. Thank you for posting the recipe!